Elder Law and Medicaid

May 28, 2015

Elder Law and Medicaid planning are two very relevant topics in today’s society. People are generally living longer than ever before and the percentage of older Americans is increasing. According to the Administration on Aging, the number of people in the United States age sixty five or older will double between the year 2000 and the year 2030. Thus, the number of people in the United States with Elder Law or Medicaid issues will increase as well. So, what is Elder Law?

Elder Law is really comprised of a number of different areas of practice. It encompasses estate planning, asset protection planning, Medicaid planning, as well as protection from elder abuse. An elder law attorney will sit with a client, review their assets, discuss their long term or short term goals, and develop an appropriate strategy. The attorney will also recognize and advise if the client’s goals or plans are realistic or even desirable. For example, a couple in their mid-sixties may visit an attorney with their main concern being asset protection in the event one of them should need nursing home care. In the case of a healthy couple in their mid-sixties, it may, in fact, be too early to engage in a relatively popular asset protection strategy: transferring assets to an irrevocable trust. So regardless of what the client has heard about nursing homes and irrevocable trusts, after a thorough explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of using that strategy, the client may want to go in another direction. The elder law attorney has done his or her job if the client comes away with a good plan based on a thorough understanding of their goals and methods to achieve them.

As mentioned above, Medicaid has become increasingly relevant because of our aging population and the need for nursing home care. It also seems that our culture in general has changes; past generations were more able or willing to take care of their elders at home. In any event, clients are invariably worried about losing their assets to the government should they enter a nursing home. Medicaid is the federal program that assists in paying for long term care; MassHealth is the entity in Massachusetts that administers the Medicaid program. One very important thing to understand about Medicaid is that eligibility only begins when the person needed assistance has a very minimal amount of assets. A single person in a nursing home can only keep $2000.00 in their name alone, with most other assets going to the nursing home. Married couples are at more of an advantage because assets can be transferred between spouses without penalty, but the spouse outside the nursing home also has an asset limit, which means anything above that limit must be spent on nursing home care. An elder law attorney can assist in planning for nursing home care and Medicaid by advanced planning or employing strategies in the event that there is an immediate need for nursing home care.

Elder law is a complicated area of practice. Transfer of assets or use of certain estate planning strategies without an experienced attorney being involved can have negative tax implications or even disqualify someone from receiving Medicaid benefits for a period of time.

By Michael P. Coleman, estate planning and elder law attorney of Lantz Law Inc of Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Serving Southcoast, South Shore, Cape Cod, and the Islands.Lantz Law Inc., are estate planning and elder law attorneys based in Dartmouth, MA whose mission is to provide residents of Southcoast, South Shore, and Cape Cod with quality estate planning resources for trusts, wills, probate, nursing home asset protection, long term care planning, veterans benefits, and medicaid. When you visit or call our office, we want you to feel comfortable discussing
such an important issue concerning both you and your family.